Nicknames
by Flipper Boid Skua
Summary: Who would've thought that a Fire-type's worst nightmare could be the very thing that brings them closer together... A Ho-ohXMoltres Phoenixshipping Oneshot. Please R&R!


Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in the littlest bit.

I've never seen a MoltresXHo-oh romance thing in this site, and asked SilverUmbra about it. She said it was called Phoenixshipping, and I decided to give it a try myself. I've seen a website dedicated to LugiaXArticuno, and wondered what it was like to have something similar. So yeah...that's what my primary inspiration for this was...

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Zapdos broke out laughing, almost collapsing to the ground. Moltres only stared at him with wide eyes. The electric-type was normally the serious, almost angry, quick-to-violence kind of bird. It was quite something to see him like this.

The fire avian then put on a stern look, not liking the fact that his counterpart was laughing at him. The spiky yellow Legendary didn't see the look and fell on his back, pressing his wings against his chest and belly as his sides began to hurt.

After a moment, Zapdos' outburst quieted down to chuckles.

"Are you done?" the phoenix asked. Zapdos took a deep breath to calm himself, but almost instantly, he cracked up again. Moltres rolled his eyes, shook his head, and placed a wing to his flame-like crest. This time, Zapdos took notice of the frustrated motion.

"S-sorry...it's just so..." He chuckled, struggling to right himself. After a bit, he succeeded and continued. "...funny..." Moltres frowned.

"What's so funny about it? I'm being serious!" he exclaimed. Zapdos ruffled his sharp feathers, having recovered from his laughter fit. That actually felt pretty good, he never laughed that hard since he was a little chick. And how long ago was that?...A couple million years perhaps...?

"Serious? Well, how was I supposed to know?" He noted the serious look and shook his head. "Nevermind. So you like Ho-oh..." Despite himself, he grinned. "...That conceited-"

"Don't even go there!" Moltres interrupted with a challenge, the fire on his body writhing. Zapdos narrowed his eyes, sparking a challenge of his own (literally). After a few seconds, Moltres sighed, closing his eyes and letting his wings go limp at his sides. "What should I do, Zap-Zap? I'm hopeless."

"First off, don't call me Zap-Zap. We're not babies anymore, _Molty_. And secondly, I'm not going to disagree with you on the 'hopeless' part." Moltres glared at him, but the thunder bird wasn't finished yet. "Hey, it worked out with Lugia and Articuno, so maybe it'll work out for you too."

Moltres nodded, feeling better from this rare reassurance. Zapdos glanced at the horizon and sparked a bit.

"She's coming. I'll take that as my cue to leave." He spread his yellow and black wings and took off towards his island. Moltres took a deep breath and put on a smile as the rainbow Pokemon landed next to him. She seemed out of breath.

"You wanted me to come by...as fast as my wing beats would go..." she muttered between breaths. Moltres nodded, nervously looking over her features. The golden crest, the black-rimmed scarlet eyes, the brilliant feathers that seem to change color depending on the sun's angle. It was no wonder that he has fallen in love with her.

"I wanted you to know something." he strated, staring at the ground. Ho-oh straightened up with a serious look on her face, ready for anything. After all, for her to fly all the way here, it had to be important...right? She watched as her fellow fire bird paced back and forth before her. "Ever since we were little, I've always spent every waking moment with you. Playing games, taking naps...burning stuff...remember that?"

Ho-oh nodded hesitantly, not sure where this was going. "Of course...but was that a bad thing?" Moltres stopped his restless motion.

"No. Not at all. But now...Now I know why I enjoyed being with you...I like you Ho-oh, a lot..."

The rainbow bird tilted her head to the side, rustling her folded wings. "That's normal, Moltres. I mean, I like myself too."

The other bird couldn't help but think of what Zapdos was going to say when he interrupted his. About to call her a conceited...something. But, to Moltres, Ho-oh had every right to be a bit self-centered. Look at her, for Arceus' sake!

"But I don't think it's the same thing..." Moltres didn't want to state his embarrassing feeling directly and he was lucky that the other Legendary got what he meant.

"Oh...you mean..." She looked taken aback. This wasn't something that she was prepared for. Moltres nodded and Ho-oh paused, pondering on this. "Wow...I didn't...I'm speechless..."

Moltres waited patiently for her to recover. After all, she had no warning of this confession. Finally she seemed to get over her surprise and gazed at him with a soft look he didn't think he liked.

"Moltres, your a strong Legendary and a great bird...But I think I need some time to think about this...I hope you understand..." Moltres held back a sigh of disappointment and nodded, forcing a smile on his beak. Ho-oh smile back before taking off towards her tower, leaving the phoenix to stare dejectedly at the ground.

--

Ho-oh didn't get very far before she stopped in a hover, her feathers shining brightly in the sun. She looked deep in thought, considering Moltres' words. He's one of her best friends and it felt like he was her counterpart. But she never thought of their relationship going farther than that...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise. Snapping out of her bemused state, she saw that she was in the direct path of a large airplane. Squawking in surprise, she jolted out of the way as it passed and was buffeted in the violent air disturbance that followed, losing all of her flight control.

She fell screeching into the sea below, her voluminous and non-waterproof coat threatening to drag the fire-type under. She struggled to get back into the air, or at least stay at the surface. But things weren't looking good...

--

Moltres was on his way to Lightning Island to tell Zapdos the sad news when he heard a familiar voice call out. He stopped mid-flap and wasted no time heading for the source. What he saw horrified his to no end. His friend, his idol of affection, was thrashing in the water.

The paniced Legendary spotted him and cried out, the words instinctive:

"Help! Molty!" The two words brought a flashback to Moltres, back when they were chicks...

**"Looky Molty! Isn't the water pretty?" Chibi Ho-oh asked a similar-in-age Chibi Moltres, who seemed nervous.**

**"Careful Hooty. You might fall in..." he muttered as the rainbow Pokemon edged closer to the lake they were exploring. A smile formed on his companion's little beak as she turned to look at him with her big eyes.**

**"Don't be silly. We're fine..." Then, without warning, Chibi Ho-oh slipped on the wet rocks and fell in. Chibi Moltres cried out and rushed to the edge (They couldn't fly yet) as Chibi Ho-oh kicked and flapped.**

**"Molty! Help!" And Chibi Moltres didn't hesitate...**

This time was no different. Disregarding his natural dislike of water (obviously), he folded his wings and dove in after her as she sank below the surface...and down towards the depths...

--

Sunset on the beaches of Lightning Island. Two feathery bundles lay motionless and wet near the shore. The water nudged the bird's tail feathers before receding.

Ho-oh looked a lot smaller than usual. It must had something to do with her now matted feathers...water dripped from her limp crest onto her face. Her soaked wings lay almost useless at her sides.

Moltres was slightly worse off. The fire that surrounded the actual red and white feathers of his crest, wings, and tail was now extinguished. And that could be a problem, considering that those flames were his primary power source.

The female bird opened her eyes and lifted her head to take in her bearings. Moltres groaned as he in turn woke up. Ho-oh smiled at him and weakly laid her wing across his back. "Thank you, Molty."

Moltres smiled back. "No problem...Hooty."

A rainbow formed overhead and they could see the embers of affection in each other's eyes. Ho-oh gently blew a flame onto Moltres' drying feather crest, setting it alight. Moltres let out a breath and a heart shaped ring of smoke floated between them.

"Hey Lovebirds! Get off my island!" Moltres and Ho-oh responded at the same time.

"Shut up, Zap-Zap!"

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-Announcer voice- Every year, many birds are killed by aircrafts, either directly (Sky Roadkill) or indirectly (Very loud noises are disturbing...). -Normal voice- And that's fact! Ho-oh was quite lucky, or she'll be paying a visit to Giratina much sooner than she'd hoped.

Anywho, please review! I'd wuv you if you do!


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